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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26578279">Something in the Woods</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jupe/pseuds/Jupe'>Jupe</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sylvix Week 2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Fighting Monsters, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Sylvix Week 2020, description of monsters, it probably shows that i used to read way too many creepypastas and had a huge supernatural phase, minor character death referenced, monster hunting</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:15:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,933</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26578279</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jupe/pseuds/Jupe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After six years Felix reluctantly returns to his hometown for a monsterhunting job.  As much as he tries to stay away from his past, he just can't seem to escape it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sylvix Week 2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1933255</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Something in the Woods</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy Sylvix week! I'm super hyped for this (Even though I'm not ready yet)</p><p>I want to stress that this fic includes descriptions of monsters and my general love for scary stories, so if you're creeped out easily, you might not wanna read this.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Heavy rain is clashing against the car’s windows as Felix drives through the night, thick grey clouds keeping even the slightest bit of moonlight from shining onto the road. As if that wasn’t enough already, the Faerghus-typical fog is obscuring his vision even further. “This is why I moved away from here,” Felix angrily mutters to himself, squinching his eyes to determine whether that thing at the side of the road is a deer, a low-hanging tree branch, or something else. He would hate nothing more than running into a monster now, before even reaching his destination. Normally, Felix wouldn’t pass the chance to rid the world of one more creature, but his patience is wearing thin and whatever it is doesn’t appear to try and get in his way, so Felix ignores it and turns his attention back on the road in front of him. He listens intently on the weather report airing on the radio.</p><p>“It will continue to rain in all of Faerghus throughout the next couple of days. In some areas the nights will get a little foggy.”<em>A little</em>. Felix scoffs. “At night the temperatures will sink drastically, so be careful while on the road, as they might get a little frosty.”</p><p>Great. So now he’ll need to be careful about that too. Felix lets out a deep sigh and slows down just a bit. He can’t afford to have his car break down in this area. If he happened to somehow get off the road and crash into something, it would probably be hours, if not days until the next car would come by. Not to mention that the phone signal is truly terrible out here in the woods of Faerghus. There is no doubt — If  he happened to break down here, he’d be all on his own.</p><p>Not that that’s anything new to Felix. He’s been in considerably worse situations throughout the years. Nonetheless, there are far better areas to get into an accident than the woods of Faerghus. Who knows what is hiding out there, lurking in the shadows, just waiting for some poor soul to get lost. Felix has already decided that he doesn’t want to find out, at least not if he can avoid it. He’s got a feeling that he’ll get to deal with more than enough Faerghus creatures once he gets to his destination and starts his new job. But for that to happen, he’ll have to safely maneuver through this fog first.</p><p>Felix has been on the road for hours, and normally he’d be struggling to stay awake by this point, but the neverending dread of going back to his childhood home makes his skin crawl and keeps his mind far too busy to even get close to falling asleep. It was almost six years ago that they all frantically searched for Glenn. Six years ago that his brother was found dead in the mud of some field, not too far from where they’d used to play hide and seek as children. Six years ago that he packed what little of his belongings he was attached to and ran away in the middle of the night, never telling anyone where he went.</p><p>Sometimes he wishes he could go back to how things were back then. To how he was back then. Just a kid, not knowing about any of the things that lurked in the shadows. Then again, even if he had made a decision to stay, something within him shifted the moment his brother was murdered, and there would have been no way to fix it. The path he chose seemed like the best one back then, and it seems like the best — if not only — one for him now.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>*****</p>
</div>Felix is almost glad when he pulls up into the oh so familiar road of his childhood home. He drives past the little red house belonging to the old lady who always gave them cookies. Back when they were kids, Glenn would keep telling him that she was a witch, and Felix would always stick out his tongue and say “Witches aren’t real, dummy!”<br/>Knowing what he knows now, he’s not so sure about that anymore. Maybe he spent his childhood living so close to one of the creatures he was now hunting down for a living, unaware of the lurking danger. Or maybe she was just a normal old lady with a bunch of cats. Either way, he wonders if she’s even still alive now.<p>He remembers the other houses just as vividly — The yellow house with the friendly family who’d always invite them over to pool parties, the white house with the overgrown garden (Which now looks significantly more organized, making Felix wonder if it had a change of owners), the green house with the hole in its fence that Glenn and Felix would sometimes crawl through to sneak through their garden as a shortcut to their own home.<br/>
And, finally, the blue house he grew up in, sitting there like it just waited for him to return for all those years.</p><p>He immediately recognizes his father’s car in the driveway, sitting in the very same spot it was in when he left. The front lawn looks the same as always, too. Grass a little too high, bushes surrounding the house. The one difference is that none of them are lacking any branches, broken off by either of the Fraldarius brothers climbing out of their windows in an attempt to sneak out at night. During Glenn’s teen years their father would scold his brother whenever he noticed yet another demolished bush. By the time Felix reached the age at which he would frequently sneak out at night, there would just be a sigh and a knowing look, but their father had already given up on trying to achieve anything through scolding.</p><p>Felix lets his car come to a halt and turns it off, sitting in the dark for a bit. He’s playing around with the keys in his hands while thinking about what to do now. Can he just turn up after six years and ask his father to let him sleep here? Where should he even begin to explain himself? His phone screen flashes with a light far too bright for the darkness of the car when he turns it on, opening up Google. His fingers hover over the keyboard as he decides whether or not he wants to search for any motels nearby instead. He doesn’t remember any in this town, but maybe he just never noticed?</p><p>With a sigh Felix shoves his phone back into his pocket, shaking his head. He’s too tired to drive around and find another place. Maybe he can bring his father to let him stay just for the night without having to explain anything, then he can leave early in the morning and find a different place to sleep.</p><p>He gets out of the car, stopping again on the sidewalk. He can see light burning in the living room window, so his father is definitely still awake. <em>I should just turn around and leave again</em>. The thought presses in his mind, louder with every step he takes towards the house, but before he can make up his mind, the front door opens, warm light pooling outside, revealing the silhouette of a man. “Oh damn it.”, Felix mutters under his breath, before straightening his posture and stepping closer.</p><p>His father is silent for a few minutes and they just look at each other. Or better, Felix is looked over from head to toe while his gaze goes everywhere except for his father’s face. “I knew I heard something outside.”, the man finally mutters, stepping aside and motioning for Felix to get inside the house. He reluctantly follows.</p><p>The interior of his old home hasn’t changed much either. Still the same long hallway with the same blue-ish grey walls and the same family pictures hanging on them. Felix doesn’t bother to take a closer look at them — He doesn’t like to be reminded of how things were back then, at least not more than he already is by being here.<br/>
The air is filled with a similar tension as back then, in the last few weeks before Felix left. It’s quiet, the only sounds being made coming from Felix kicking off his shoes, then taking off his old leather jacket. He still doesn’t dare to meet his father’s eyes, who silently watches, arms crossed.</p><p>“Six years, Felix.” His father’s voice sounds tired as he finally speaks. Not accusatory, not angry, just… <em>tired</em>. </p><p>Felix nods, eyes still fixed on the ground. “I know.” There’s a long pause.</p><p>Rodrigue sighs. “Where have you been all this time?”</p><p>Felix shrugs. “Here and there. Been driving around a lot. Doing some… Work.” He definitely won’t dive into the topic of what kind of work it is he’s doing. After all, he can already picture pretty well how that conversation would go, anyway.</p><p>“And what brings you back here now? I can imagine it’s not because you just missed your dad.” What did Felix expect, really? Of course his father would ask questions. Still, all he wants right now is to finally sleep. He rubs a hand over his face and meets his father's eyes for the first time, before looking away again almost immediately.</p><p>“Got a potential job in the area.”, he mumbles, hoping his tone conveys that he’s not in the mood for further conversation.</p><p>Finally, his father takes a deep breath. “You can sleep in your old room.” He knows Felix well enough to be able to tell that his questions won’t lead anywhere. They’ve had talks like this numerous times already back when Felix still lived here. Felix just nods before squeezing past his father and going further down the hallway.</p><p>There’s the familiar creek of his door as he pushes it open. This room is still the same, too. Sure, some dust has gathered and the air is uncomfortably thick, but overall it isn’t as bad as Felix would’ve thought it would be after six years. Then again, after Glenn was gone, his father still went to clean that room as well, so it would make sense for him to do the same with Felix’s room. However, other than a bit of dusting-off, it seems like not a lot has changed.<br/>
His old bed is still pushed against the dark blue wall, next to it his wardrobe, and on the other side desk and chair, all made out of the same dark wood. Back then he knew what kind of tree it was from, but now he doesn’t care to remember. His school bag is still resting there on the floor, right where he left it behind. Felix cracks the window open for some fresh air, then sits down on the bed and just lets the memories flood back to him. He couldn’t stop them from coming either way, so he may as well just allow for them to rush into his mind all at once, so he can move on and lock them back away.</p><p>Sleepovers with Dimitri where they’d stay up all night playing games. Sitting on the floor next to Ingrid doing homework because otherwise they wouldn’t be allowed to go play outside. Leaning against the wall behind his bed while listening to Sylvain babble on about whatever would come to his mind. His thoughts leave the good behind and instead drift to the last few days far too quickly, when he sat in his bed crying, the entire house feeling empty and cold with Glenn gone.</p><p>Felix shakes his head in an attempt to shake the memories away and lets himself fall back against the pillows. He stares up at the ceiling, then over at the wall, filled with pictures of him and his friends, some with his family. Pictures of a different Felix, with a different life and a different future. There’s little he has in common with the boy smiling back at him. It’s almost strange how much he has changed.</p><p>He doesn’t bother pulling the blanket over himself. Instead Felix just falls asleep like this, lying on his bed still fully clothed, curled up awkwardly in a bed too small for him.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>*****</p>
</div>Felix wakes up when the sky is just beginning to shine in a bright pink colour to accompany the rising sun. The last stars slowly fade and the whole neighborhood is filled with a sleepy silence, only disturbed by a few birds singing their morning songs. It is without a doubt the perfect time for Felix to sneak out now, before his father wakes up and gets the chance to corner him into an actual conversation.<p>He knows which tiles of the floor to avoid in order to stay silent and slips out the front door without making a sound. The rain has stopped and the fog has mostly cleared, but it’s freezingly cold. The grass seems to be covered in a thin white layer of frost, as are the trees and roofs of the entire neighbourhood. Felix gets into the car and starts the heater right away. He grabs his phone to look up his client’s address. It’s not too far away, but it’s not a place he recalls to belong to anyone he knows. The last thing Felix wants is to run into one of his old friends and having to explain himself to them, too. They probably wouldn’t let him off the hook as easy as his father did.</p><p>Felix is still a bit weary of the whole thing. He came across this job because one of his monster hunting acquaintances forwarded the client to him, and they only ever communicated through text. Felix doesn’t even know the guy’s name, let alone what he’s in for. But springtime can get a little rough with not as many monsters as usual around, and Felix can’t be picky. Besides, the amount of money he was offered as payment is just too good to decline.</p><p>The past year wasn’t exactly ideal for Felix. More than once did he have to sleep in his car because he couldn’t afford even the cheapest motel room, and there had been a few times where he had to seriously think about whether or not he could even afford to eat anything. He’s practically waiting for his car to just die on him in the worst possible moment and leave him without anything else. Still, this is the life he chose for himself. Sometimes he still imagines how different his life could have been if he just would’ve stayed here. Or if it would still be possible to go back to normal now. But it just doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t feel like him anymore, and so he just pushes the thought aside, rather than wasting his time on unrealistic hypotheticals.</p><p>Eventually Felix comes to a stop in front of a white single-story house. It looks a bit smaller than its neighbouring houses, which somehow makes it feel almost homely. The yard looks mostly well-kept and tidy, especially in comparison to the other yards, which are mostly covered in childrens’ or pets’ toys. There’s an old car parked in the driveway. <em>Good. That at least indicates that someone is home</em>. Felix takes one last breath before getting out of his car.</p><p>He walks up to the house and rings the doorbell. Nothing. Great. Felix rings it again, this time following it up with a knock for good measure. This time he can at least hear some footsteps from inside, getting closer.</p><p>When the door finally opens, Felix immediately regrets every decision he’s ever made that led him to this moment. He doesn’t quite know who he expected to meet, but it was definitely not Sylvain. And yet, it takes one look at the bright red, unruly hair and the honey eyes staring back at him with a surprised expression for Felix to be sure that this is him.<br/>
He’s changed quite a bit. Sylvain is taller than Felix remembers him to be and it seems that over the years he’s managed to build up more muscles, so he doesn’t look as lanky anymore. Under other circumstances Felix might have admitted that his childhood friend had grown to be quite attractive, but at this moment all he can think of is how this job is getting worse by the minute.</p><p>Before Sylvain even gets the chance to say anything, Felix spits out a “No.” and turns around. All the money in the world wouldn’t be enough to convince him to stay here any longer. A hand wraps around his wrist and keeps him from leaving with a strength he wouldn’t have expected from Sylvain.</p><p>“Felix, wait!” If there was any doubt before, now Felix knows for sure that this is indeed Sylvain. It’s the way his voice rings in Felix’s ears as he says his name, the way it makes Felix’s head spin like a carousel. Felix stops walking, but rips his hand out of Sylvain’s grasp.</p><p>“What do you want?” He glares back at Sylvain, who just blinks at him.</p><p>“I think you know what I want. We already discussed it, after all…” So it was really him trying to hire Felix.</p><p>“Find someone else to help you.” Felix’s mind is screaming at him to get away, to leave before all the wall’s Felix is so desperately trying to keep from breaking ever since he got here all crash down on him. Sylvain has always had that effect on him.</p><p>“I can’t. You know that… I told you. I couldn’t find anyone else willing to help me,” he pleads. Felix makes the mistake to look at Sylvain’s face, and is immediately hit by how desperate he’s looking at him. Felix shakes his head, mostly in an attempt to shake away his own thoughts.</p><p>“I can’t help you either. <em>Find someone else</em>.”</p><p>“But you said you would, Felix. You said you’d help.”, Sylvain protests.</p><p>“I didn’t know-” <em>I didn’t know it was you.</em> “You didn’t even tell me what this was about.”</p><p>“I can show you now. Please just hear me out. The guy who directed me towards you said it was something you could help with. That you knew how to deal with this.” Felix wants to say no. He wants to turn around and leave and never think about this stupid town, or his father, or all of his childhood memories, or <em>Sylvain</em> ever again. But he just can’t. He can’t say no to Sylvain, especially not when he looks at him like<em> that</em> with big eyes and a slight pout.</p><p>Felix sighs. “Fine. Tell me more about your monster or whatever.”</p><p>Sylvain nods eagerly and motions for Felix to follow him inside.</p><p>The house isn’t really big, but probably enough for one person. Felix feels slightly relieved at the fact that it seems to be just Sylvain living here, but he tries to ignore the feeling.<br/>
He’s led into a living room with a small couch, as well as a table and some chairs. Everything seems to be perfectly stored away, with not even the slightest sign of anything messy. Felix isn’t surprised. Sylvain has always been extremely tidy.</p><p>They sit down at an old wooden table and Sylvain grabs a pile of papers he then puts down in front of Felix with a grim look on his face. Felix starts looking through the papers — blurry pictures as well as several overly dramatic news articles and printed-out blog posts, all regarding a series of <em>monster sightings</em> in the area, spread over the last couple of years.</p><p>After a while Felix squints at Sylvain. “And you think those are real?” Sylvain frowns.</p><p>“Absolutely positive. This thing…”, he gestures at the papers and then lowers his voice, as if anyone else could hear them, “It’s following me. I didn’t search for someone to help with this just for fun. Normally I’d just write it off as some stupid rumours, but Felix, it’s following me. It’s watching, all the time.”</p><p>Felix looks over the papers once again, then back at Sylvain. “This whole monster hunting thing is not a joke, you know.”</p><p>“I’m not joking”, Sylvain tries to defend himself, “Look, I wouldn’t be so desperate for help if this wasn’t serious.”</p><p>Felix sighs. “Frankly, this doesn’t sound like anything I’ve encountered, or even heard of before. Seems just like the kind of thing the people of this town would make up because life here is just that damn boring.”</p><p>Sylvain is chewing on his bottom lip and gives Felix a pleading look. “I swear I’m not making this up. Just… Stay here until evening comes around, then you can see it for yourself. It’s always there at night.”</p><p>“I would hate <em>nothing</em> more than to spend an entire day with you, Sylvain.” Except, there are things Felix would hate significantly more. It’s a job, after all. And he’s desperate for money.</p><p>Sylvain is still just looking at him with the same old puppy-look he would always use, and Felix lets out a defeated sigh. “Fine. But if we don’t see it, or if you start getting on my nerves, I’m out of here by tomorrow. And you’re still paying me for the time I wasted by waiting for your <em>monster</em>.”</p><p>“Sure. I’m positive we will see it. You’ll see I’m right.” Sylvain looks determined, but quickly breaks into a wide smile. “So, guess we’re gonna have a good old sleepover, huh?” Felix glares at him.</p><p>“Don’t call it that. This is a job for me, nothing more.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>*****</p>
</div>They spend most of the day sitting in silence, staring out into the backyard. Sylvain tries to start countless conversations, but Felix does his best to shut him up every time. This might actually be the worst thing that possibly could’ve happened. Felix really wanted to avoid as many people from his old life as he possibly could, instead it seems like they’re just all around him. Coming back here really was a bad idea.<p>“So… What made you wanna be a monster hunter again?” Sylvain asks, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, balancing on only two of the chair’s legs. He did that ever since they were children, and every time Felix expects him to crash and get hurt. Although, to Sylvain’s credit, he usually ended up perfectly fine. So far this only resulted in two broken arms and one concussion that Felix knows of. He tries to hide his disapproving glance, but Sylvain catches it nonetheless, immediately stopping with an apologetic grin. Felix sighs and shakes his head, directing his gaze back to the edge of the forest where Sylvain claims to have seen his monster. He can feel the other’s eyes resting on him, waiting for an answer.</p><p>“It’s none of your business.”, Felix finally grits out.</p><p>Sylvain rests his arms on the windowsill, propping his head on them while his gaze lingers outside. “You just… disappeared.”, he mumbles, “Nobody knew where you went. You should’ve seen your dad, after everything that happened. First Glenn, then you, then-”</p><p>“Whatever.”, Felix interrupts him, surprising even himself with the harshness behind his tone. Sylvain looks over at him for a moment, eyes wide. Then he purses his lips and returns to staring outside.</p><p>“It’s just… You didn’t even tell me. Didn’t say goodbye, didn’t leave a message…“ He trails off, a strange silence taking over the space that was just filled with Sylvain’s words. There’s something else he wants to say, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t have to. Felix understands, even without the words leaving Sylvain’s mouth. <em>We made a promise, Felix</em>.</p><p>Felix mutters a “sorry”, so quiet, he isn’t sure if Sylvain even hears it. The other chuckles, not looking over at Felix this time. Felix kind of wishes he would.</p><p>“You know, for the first few months I stayed up all night. Always looking out my window. Always waiting. I thought that maybe you’d show up eventually. Then after some time I switched to sleeping with the window open, just so you could easily climb in when you wanted. Looking back now, that was really dumb, huh? Who knows how many of these things are out there, probably just waiting for a chance like that.” He pauses, steals a glance at Felix, then gives him an awkward smirk. “I bet you know, right?”</p><p>Felix shrugs. “I suppose I can think of a few creatures that would’ve been grateful for the opportunity. Don’t know if they live here in Faerghus, though.” Sylvain just nods, and they fall silent again.</p><p>The sun is almost setting again, dying the sky a burning orange, when Sylvain shoots up so fast, he almost startles Felix. “Goddess, what happened?”, he asks, his voice sharp.</p><p>Sylvain wordlessly points outside. Felix squints, following Sylvain’s gaze. There, at the edge of the forest, he can make out the silhouette of a figure. It’s too far away for him to make out any distinct features, but that’s not necessary. Just the silhouette is enough to make Felix jump up, grab his dagger from where he placed it on the table earlier, and run outside.</p><p>To no one's surprise the thing disappears the moment it notices the light pooling onto the back porch as Felix rips the door open. Sylvain stands next to him, leaning against the doorframe. “Not very good at this, are you?”</p><p>“Shut up.”, Felix hisses, “I’m gonna follow it. I’m just… Chasing it away so I don’t have to fight it in the middle of a suburban neighborhood.”</p><p>“Uh-huh. I’ll just pretend I believe you.”, Sylvain says, not sounding very convinced at all. Felix doesn’t even bother to glare at him. He doesn’t have the nerve to focus on Sylvain right now. All that is on his mind is the thing he saw out there in the woods. Could it really be…?</p><p>He jumps out into the garden and heads straight towards the forest. “Woah there, where are we going? We’re not just following that thing into the forest, are we?”, Sylvain protests, hurrying to catch up with Felix.</p><p>“<em>We</em> aren’t going anywhere. This is <em>my</em> job. You’ll only get in the way.” Felix keeps walking, dagger gripped tight in his hand.</p><p>“You’re expecting me to just let you go out there all on your own?”, Sylvain asks, voice filled with worry.</p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p>“But I can’t just-”</p><p>“Sylvain, I didn’t ask. You stay right here and let me do my job. I’m not going to babysit you out there.”, Felix cuts him off. Sylvain sighs in defeat, stopping to think of a possible response. Felix ignores him and just keeps walking. It’ll be easier when he doesn’t have to worry about anyone else. This is something he’ll really need to focus on.</p><p>He’s sure that it’s the same thing. The same thing he saw that day, when half the town was running around searching for Glenn. Felix had originally been searching together with his friends, but got separated from them at some point. Whether it was by accident or he stayed behind on purpose in the belief that he’d be faster on his own, he can’t remember. The whole memory is blurry, impossible to tell what really happened and what is a product of his countless nightmares anymore. One thing he still remembers clear as day, however— the thing that’s the same in all of his dreams, too— is how he stumbled through the forest, eventually tripping and landing on the hard ground, scraping his knees and palms up in the process. There was a stinging pain in his left arm as he fell, his face covered in mud, leaves in his hair. He hardly registered any of it when he looked up, only to see a silhouette in the distance. Hunched over, arms far too long for any human, hands far too large. It looked at him with big, dark eyes, then ran away at an alien speed. He hadn’t been able to make out much else, except for what at the time seemed like some strange, dark glistening substance covering most of the thing’s twisted body.</p><p>When his brother was found not too long after, Felix was convinced that said substance had been his blood. The adults had tried to shield the body from his vision, but Felix had seen enough to know that there was a lot of blood. It could’ve been for any reason, but in that moment Felix was just <em>convinced</em> that what he’d seen in the forest that day was somehow connected to his brother’s death, even more so when people kept disappearing and turning up dead during the following weeks. It was what made him decide to start hunting down monsters. But despite how long he’d been doing it since, he never quite encountered anything like the creature he saw that day — Until now.</p><p>Felix doesn’t care that it’s almost too dark to run through the forest without a flashlight by now. He doesn’t care that he brought nothing other than his simple dagger. He doesn’t have any time to waste if he finally wants to find the thing. And after all, he’s been in much worse situations and has always gotten out on top. </p><p>The trees seem to bend into all kinds of forms, as if they were moving around him in the twilight. A thick wall of fog is building up around him the longer he runs through the forest. It’s not quite as bad as yesterday yet, but without a doubt not ideal to go monster hunting. But it’s too late to turn back now. And, as much as Felix doesn’t want to admit it, he’s not even sure where <em>back</em> even is. He’s been running around, taking turn after turn at every rustle of leaves, every twig he heard break for so long that he can’t tell where he came from anymore. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea after all.</p><p>Felix comes to a stop, leaning against a tree for support as he catches a breath. It’s only now that Felix realizes he’s been running for so long that his lungs are burning. He quietly curses himself while looking around for orientation. There’s really no way to deny it — he’s completely lost. “Great. Now I’m definitely not gonna find that thing.”, he mutters under his breath, running a hand over his face with a groan. “And I call myself a <em>professional</em>.”</p><p>A sudden crack behind him snaps Felix out of his thoughts, turning him around only to be face to face with the large, hunched-over creature he’s been looking for. Up-close the thing looks definitely much worse. The figure is close enough to a human, however, there are a few differences that just make it look <em>wrong</em>.  It’s a lot larger than he would have thought, easily towering over him by a few inches. Standing upright it could probably not fit inside a normal home. The torso isn’t much larger than Felix’s own — except that its shoulders are much wider, almost making it look like a triangle —, but the thing’s arms and legs seem to be stretched, far longer and thinner than any human, ending in almost comically large feet and hands with sharp, dirty nails. It bends its crooked back at an unnatural angle that wouldn’t be possible for a human, just to meet his gaze with its own pair of black, empty eyes and a mouth that seems to almost imitate a smile — only that the grin is a little too wide, a little too unnatural, showing off a row of pointy teeth that look like they could rip him apart in an instant. Its grey, leathery skin stretches tightly over the creature’s bones, showing every pointy edge underneath. Felix likes to think that he’s not easily shaken by the paranormal anymore, but this thing… It leaves him terrified. When it snarls at him, all he can think about is how much it sounds like nails scraping across a chalkboard. Once the stenching, sweet smell of its rotten breath hits him, his entire body screams at him to run away, but he doesn’t move. He can’t move. Even if his legs didn’t betray him, he knows that he doesn’t have any other choice than to face it now, to kill it once and for all. It would be hard to forgive himself if he didn’t finally get revenge for his brother.</p><p>Finally he remembers how to move and pushes the thing, grabbing for his dagger while it stumbles backwards with a blood curdling screech. To his shock, the monster is already back on its feet in the time it takes him to pull out his weapon, charging right at him with a force that should be impossible for such a frail body. Its leathery, icy skin slaps against Felix. He’s being shoved up against the tree he’d been resting against only seconds ago as he feels his body being lifted off his feet. The treebark scrapes against his back as he’s dragged along it and he can feel the air being squeezed out of his lungs.</p><p>But Felix refuses to give up that easily. With all the strength he can muster he lifts his feet to kick the creature. It’s not doing much, but it startles the thing enough to loosen its grip. Felix is dropped, lands on his feet and swiftly ducks under the spindly arms, making sure that he’s not backed against a tree this time. By the time the monster catches on and turns around to him, Felix already has his dagger buried in its side, tearing through the skin. It’s too dark outside to know for sure, but Felix has a sneaking suspicion that the strange goo flowing over his hand isn’t normal blood. However, there is no time to pay it any further mind.</p><p>Despite the leaking wound, the monster jumps at him with a howl, slamming Felix into the ground before he knows it. He can’t quite tell if the sickening crack comes from a twig that just so happened to be in the way, or if it’s one of his bones. He’ll worry about that later, when there is no weird creature pinning him to the ground and breathing right into his face with its disgusting breath.</p><p>Felix tries to squirm, to wiggle out of its grip, but there’s no use. The thing is too strong, and seems to be far too on guard to allow him to overpower it again. <em>Is this it?</em>The thought leaves Felix more frustrated than anything else. He’s not scared, or sad that this will probably be how he dies. All he can think about is how it had to be all because of some amateur mistake he made, all because he allowed for his emotions to win him over. He closes his eyes and waits for the sharp teeth to tear into his skin, but they never come.</p><p>Instead, there’s a loud <em>thump</em> and all of a sudden he’s not pressed against the ground anymore. Felix cautiously opens his eyes again to see what happened, and is met with the last thing he would’ve expected to see.</p><p>Looming over him is none other than Sylvain, holding a large stone and looking just as surprised as Felix. Felix’s eyes shoot over to his left, where the creature is now lying, motionless. “Did you kill it?” He doesn’t wait for a response. Instead, Felix gets on his knees and crawls over to the thing, to check for himself. After a few minutes of silent examination Felix is convinced that the monster is, indeed, dead. He turns to look at Sylvain and nods, as if he’d been the one to ask.</p><p>“Are you okay?”, Sylvain asks now, sounding breathless and worried. His eyes wander over Felix’s body in a search for any signs of injuries. Felix takes a moment to think. There isn’t any pain aside from what will most likely become a few bruises from when he was pushed around, but that could change when the adrenaline rush is over. Something in his left shoulder isn’t quite right, though, and it seems like that was also the source of the crack he heard earlier. “I’m fine.”, he says anyways. Sylvain squints at him, then firmly shakes his head. “You know, you still purse your lips like that when you’re lying.” He stops to mimic Felix’s expression. “Tell me where it hurts.”</p><p>Sylvain then crouches down and extends an arm to Felix, who instinctively pulls away, trying to suppress a flinch. His shoulder is definitely going to hurt once the adrenaline has worn off. “I’m not a child anymore. I can handle a few bruises. Besides, I don’t need <em>big bro Sylvain</em> to take care of me or any of that stuff. I can look out for myself.”</p><p>Sylvain raises an eyebrow. “Yeah, I saw that just now when you were about to be eaten by a monster.” There’s a cocky grin on his face, but Felix can tell by the sound of his voice that Sylvain is still worried.</p><p>“Look, I’m fine. I would’ve gotten out of that situation somehow. Now shut up and let’s go before anything else finds us out here.” </p><p>This time Felix can’t help the groan as he tries to get up and immediately feels a sharp sting rushing from his shoulder through his whole body. Before he has a chance to protest, Sylvain is by his side, supporting him as he helps him to his feet. Felix wants to push him away, to show that he can stand on his own… But being able to hold onto Sylvain does make it a lot easier to walk as his whole body is starting to hurt. Just for the sake of getting out of that forest faster, Felix decides to swallow his pride and allow the other to help him. So he does his best to blame the way his chest tightens on the fight he just had, and ignores how warm Sylvain is against him. Those are things he can’t waste his attention on now — or ever.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>*****</p>
</div>Felix reluctantly accepts the glass of water Sylvain hands him along with a few painkillers. The other watches him chug down the water, then takes the glass from his hands and sets in on the table in front of them. “Do you need anything else?”<p>Felix glares at him. “I told you I was fine already. I don’t need to be pampered.” Sylvain just hums and drops down on the sofa next to Felix.</p><p>“What a night, huh? I’ve got to say, it was pretty exciting! Oh, not the part where you almost died, though… That wasn’t very fun.”, he starts to ramble.</p><p>“What were you doing out there anyway?”, Felix finally asks, “I told you to stay back.”</p><p>Sylvain turns his head to frown at Felix. “I know you did, but… To be honest, I just didn’t want to risk losing you. Not again. Not when it would have been my fault… I’m done feeling bad about you being gone.” He purses his lips and looks back at the ceiling.<br/>
There’s silence for a while, as Felix tries not to think too hard about what Sylvain just said. <em>Too late</em>.</p><p>“I really… Hurt you. Didn’t I?”</p><p>Sylvain lets out a hollow chuckle. “Maybe. I won’t lie, it was rough without you. But I get it. If I’d been as close with my brother as you and Glenn were, I think I wouldn’t have wanted to stay after all of that either. Can’t blame you for that.”</p><p>Felix grimly stares down at his hands. “I should’ve at least left you a note. Sorry.”</p><p>“Don’t worry about it now.”</p><p>They go quiet after that, but for once it’s almost a comfortable silence. Felix glances over at Sylvain, only to catch him stare right back, the corner of his mouth jerking up into a sly smile — one that Felix knows to be real. In that moment he feels a tug at his heart, and almost acknowledges it as what it is. But he’s really not ready for that truth.</p><p>And neither is Sylvain, it seems.</p><p>“So… What are we gonna do when you’re all healed up again?”</p><p>Felix raises his eyebrows. “<em>You</em> stay here and live your life. I’m going back on the road. I’ve been in this town for far too long already.”</p><p>“Aw, come on, Fe!”, Sylvain whines, just about to nudge Felix’s arm when he seems to remember his injury. “I saved your life out there. Admit it, you need me!”</p><p>Felix sighs. “I suppose it wasn’t the worst thing to have you out there. Still, this kind of life is… Complicated. You can’t really want that.”</p><p>Sylvain tilts his head. “How bad can it be, really? I already told you, I’m not gonna lose you again.” Felix knows better than to get into a debate with Sylvain when he seems that determined.</p><p>“I’m not getting rid of you, am I?”, he asks after a while.</p><p>Sylvain shakes his head, “Absolutely not.”</p><p>“Fine.”</p><p>“Wait, really?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Guess we’re partners now then, huh?” Sylvain winks, this time actually nudging Felix, who immediately lets out a groan. He’s about to chastise Sylvain, when he sees the way the other is smiling back at him. Kind of apologetic, while trying -- and failing -- to contain his joy. Felix takes a deep breath and forces a smile.</p><p>“Yeah… Partners.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Before you leave, consider checking out my Twitter @JuppyChoi<br/>Big thanks to my beta reader @punchtheocean on Twitter, stop by and drop some love, will ya?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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